Device for scaling at the gum pocket

ABSTRACT

A device for scaling sordes and tartars on the surface of teeth at the gum pocket having improved construction, in which there are provided a hand-piece for an ejection nozzle; a compressor for feeding pressurized air to the ejection nozzle at one end of the hand-piece; a conduit pipe for transporting the compressed air; a water sump; and a conduit for leading water from the water sump to the ejection nozzle, the compressed air being ejected from the ejecting nozzle of the hand-piece under a pressure of from 1 to 2 kg/cm 2  and in an ejecting quantity of from 6 to 9 l /min., and water being ejected together with the pressurized jet air in an ejecting quantity of from 10 to 30 cc/min. in the form of a spray jet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a dental hygienic device, and, moreparticularly, it is concerned with a device for positively andeffectively scaling and washing-out sordes (including dental calculus ortartars) on the surface of teeth at a portion which is a so-called "gumpocket" or "cul-de-sac" between a tooth and a gingival edge, and alsofor removing various germs (in particular, aerophobic bacteria) whichare ever present in the gum pocket as well, as the consequence of whichthe pathological condition of the soft tissues of the teeth includingthe gum pocket is improved and formation of sordes and sedimentation oftartars on the surface of teeth are also suppressed, such improvedconditions being able to be constantly maintained.

(b) Description of Prior Art

The sordes and tartars on the surface of teeth at the gum pocket tend tocause dental diseases such as pyorrhea alveolaris (or gum disease), etc.In view of considerably strong adhesive force of the sordes and tartarsonto the surface of teeth, it is fairly difficult to remove them with atooth brush. From the clinical standpoint of the dental surgery, it hasbeen and is usually a practice to remove the dental calculus on thesurface of teeth by inserting the tip end of a scaler into the gumpocket to scrape them off, or removing the sordes and tartars byimpinging a jet stream of water onto the gum pocket through a jet nozzlefor washing the oral cavity to peel them off.

However, the scraping of the tartars and sordes with use of a bladehand-piece would stimulate the dental nerves to arouse pain anddisagreeableness on the treated part, or it tends to scratch the gingivato provoke bleeding, with the further disadvantage of an inefficient andtime-taking operation. Moreover, such a scaling operation cannot becontrolled by a patient himself (or herself).

The removal by scraping of tartars and sordes with the use of a jetwater nozzle is to remove them on the surface of teeth by directlyimpinging the pressurized jet water onto the surface of teeth at the gumpocket. For this purpose, it is necessary that the gingiva b at the gumpocket where the jet water is impinged be sufficiently separated fromthe surface of teeth a to be brought to an open state, as indicated by adouble dots-and-dash line in FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawing, wherebythe surface of teeth becomes exposed to the outside to enable the jetwater to directly act on the sordes and tartars on the surface of theteeth. In practice, however, the gingiva b at the gum pocket does notbecome sufficiently separated from the surface of the tooth a to bebrought to an open state, even when the jet water at a considerably highejecting pressure is impinged on the gum pocket, hence the jet water isdifficult to act effectively on the surface of the teeth at the gumpocket, where the sordes and tartars are adhered.

As the ejecting pressure of the jet water is increased to sufficientlyopen the gingiva b, impingement of the jet water stream to the surfaceof teeth a, the gingiva b, and every other part of the mouth becomesexcessive to result in injury to the teeth a and the gingiva b, orcausing pain and disagreeable feeling to the user. In addition, since alarge quantity of water flows out of the mouth during use of the jetwater nozzle, it compels the user to lean his or her body forward,approaching his or her face closer to the wash basin, etc. to handle thejet nozzle hand-piece in a very confined, slouched posture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made with a view to improving theabovementioned disadvantages inherent in the conventional device, andaims at scaling sordes and tartars on the surface of teeth as well asremoving germs ever present in the gum pocket with use of pressurizedjet water same as done in the conventional devices.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apractical device for scaling sordes and tartars on the surface of teethat the gum pocket, which have various advantages such that (1) the jetwater directly acts on the surface of teeth where sordes and tartars areadhered, in a state of the gingiva b at the gum pocket beingsufficiently separated from the surface of a tooth a, so that the sordesand tartars can be effectively removed; (2) the pressure of the jetwater can be relatively low, hence there is no possibility of injurycaused to the teeth and the gingiva, nor giving pains and disagreeablefeeling to the user; (3) the water to be used for scaling can be in arelatively small quantity; and so forth.

According to the present invention in general aspect of it, there isprovide a device for scaling sordes and tartars on the surface of teethat the gum pocket, which comprises: a hand-piece for an ejection nozzle;a compressor for feeding pressurized air to said ejection nozzle at oneend of said hand-piece; a conduit pipe for transporting the compressedair; a water sump; and a conduit for leading water from said water sumpto said ejecting nozzle, said compressed air being ejected from saidejection nozzle of the hand-piece under a pressure of from 1 to 2 kg/cm²and in an ejecting quantity of from 6 to 9 1/min., and water beingejected together with said pressurized jet air in an ejecting quantityof from 10 to 30 cc/min. in the form of a spray jet.

The foregoing object and other objects, as well as the construction andfunction of the device for scaling sordes and tartars on the surface ofteeth according to the present invention, will become more apparent andunderstandable from the following detailed description thereof, whenread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly cut away, showing the entireexternal appearance of one embodiment of the scaling device according tothe present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in longitudinal cross-section of thehand-piece having the ejection nozzle at its one end;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a modified hand-piece for theejection nozzle, in which a control switch is provided;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-section view showing a differentembodiment of the ejection nozzle; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing the ejection nozzle as directedto the gum pocket of a tooth.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, the present invention will be described in specificdetails in reference to the accompanying drawing.

As mentioned in the foregoing, it has been the fact that, even if thejet water alone is impinged on the gum pocket at a fairly high ejectingpressure, the gingiva b at the gum pocket is not sufficiently separatedfrom the surface of the tooth a to be brought to an open state with theconsequence that such jet water is difficult to act effectively on thesurface of the tooth at the gum pocket, where sordes and tartars arestuck.

The present inventor, however, has found out that, when jet water iscaused to act on the surface of teeth at the gum pocket in the form ofspray and being carried on the jet air, such jet air, even under arelatively low ejecting pressure, readily blows in between the tooth aat the gum pocket and the gingiva b to be sufficiently separated fromthe tooth a as shown by a double dots-and-dash line in FIG. 5, as theconsequence of which the jet water can sufficiently act on the thusexposed surface of teeth at the gum pocket, in the form of spray jet,whereby scaling and removal of sordes and tartars c adhered on the teethcan be effectively done due to such jet air and the spray jet water. Onthe basis of such observation, the present invention has been completed.Incidentally, the gingiva b which has been separated from the surface ofteeth will again be closed due to its elasticity as soon as the ejectionof the pressurized air is ceased.

The air to be ejected from the nozzle should practically have a pressureof from 1 to 2 kg/cm², and be in an ejecting quantity of from 6 to 91/min. With a pressure not reaching 1 kg/cm² and an ejecting quantitynot reaching 6 1/min., the gingiva b cannot effectively be separatedfrom the tooth a at the gum pocket and the operating pressure of thespray jet water becomes also low with the result that no effectivescaling of sordes and tartars can be carried out. On the other hand,with the pressure of above 2 kg/cm² and the ejecting quantity of above 91/min., impingement of the jet air and the spray jet water onto thetooth a, the gingiva b, and every other part of the mouth interiorbecomes excessively strong. Moreover, it is not necessary to increasethe ejecting pressure of the air and water to such a strong level forattaining the sufficient separation of the gingiva b from the tooth andthe effective removal or scaling of the sordes and tartars by the sprayjet water. Rather, such increased pressure is wasteful for theparticular purpose.

The ejecting quantity of the spray jet water to be ejected on theabovementioned jet air stream should appropriately be from 10 to 30cc/min. or so. With the ejecting quantity not reaching 10 cc/min., noeffective scaling of the sordes and tartars c can be attained, becauseof extremely small quantity of the spray jet water to act on the surfaceof teeth. On the other hand, the quantity of water exceeding 30 cc/min.is unnecessarily large for the effective scaling of the sordes andtartars c, hence it is wasteful.

In general, the scaling of the sordes and tartars on the surface ofteeth for a single scaling operation can be effectively completed bycausing the abovementioned mixed stream of jet air and spray jet waterto act uniformly throughout the mouth interior and on the gum pocket ofeach tooth for about one minute, whereby the spaces between the adjacentteeth can be cleaned very satisfactorily, and food residues, variousgerms, etc. can also be removed effectively. In addition, the pressureof these jet air and spray jet water serves for massaging the gingiva.The quantity of water to collect in the mouth during the scaling andwashing-out operation is at most as small as 10 to 30 cc, which maytherefore be kept within the mouth until completion of the scaling andwashing for a single cleaning operation, and thereafter it may be spatoutside, which conveniently facilitates handling of the nozzlehand-piece.

With a view to enabling those persons skilled in the art to put thepresent invention into practice, the following preferred examples areexplained in reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring first to FIG. 1, illustrating a portable type device forscaling and washing-out sordes and tartars from the surface of teeth atthe gum pocket, which can be used conveniently at home and on one'sjourney as well, a reference numeral 1 designates a small-sized casing,designed to have an arbitrary external shape, for the main body of thedevice which can be freely carried by gripping a handle 2 fixedlyprovided on the main body casing 1. Within this casing, there are houseda small-sized compressor 3 such as, for example, a small-sized diaphragmpump of 30 to 50 W. A numeral 4 refers to a plug and a cord for feedingelectric current to the compressor 3, the plug being inserted into aplug receptacle for a commercial power source. Reference numerals 5 and6 denote respectively a power source switch and a pilot lamp disposed onthe top surface of the carrying handle 2 in this embodiment. When theswitch 5 is turned on, the lamp 6 is lit and the compressor 3 starts tooperate. A numeral 7 refers to a dial for regulating pressure of air,which is disposed on the top surface part of the main body casing 1 ofthe device in this embodiment. By manipulating this dial in rotation,the pumping operation of this compressor 3 is controlled to be eitherhigh or low, whereby pressure and outlet quantity of the compressed airfrom an air outlet tube 8 can be adjusted arbitrarily.

A reference numeral 9 designates conduit tube for compressed air, whichis flexible butless collapsible. The tube is connected at its one endwith the air outlet tube 8, and is extended at its other end outward ofthe main body casing 1 of the device in an appropriate length, e.g., 1 mor so.

A numeral 10 refers to a water container of a small capacity of about 50to 100 cc, which is removably housed in a lateral recess 11 formed inone side of the main body casing 1 of the device.

A numeral 12 refers to a flexible thin tube for conducting watertherethrough, which is inserted in the abovementioned pressurized airconduit tube 9. One end 12a of this water conduit tube 12 is drawnoutside of the compressed air conduit tube 9 through the tube wall at aposition closer to the top ceiling wall of the abovementioned lateralrecess 11 for accommodating the water container 10, and is extendedthrough the center part of the ceiling wall of the lateral wall towardthe bottom surface thereof. At the time of housing this water containerfilled with water W (including warm water at an appropriate temperature,water or warm water added with tooth wash or other medicinal substances,and so forth) into this recess 11, the end part 12a of the water conduittube extending into this lateral recess 11 is properly flexed so as tobe put inside the water container 10, after which it is inserted intothe recess 11.

A reference numeral 13 represents a hand-piece for the ejection nozzle,the details of which are shown in FIG. 2 which is an enlargedlongitudinal cross-sectional view. In this ejection nozzle hand-piece, anumeral 14 refers to a hollow gripping handle, a numeral 15 refers to abeaked tube of an appropriate length with a nozzle mouthpiece 16 beingscrew-connected with the free end of the beaked tube 15. The other endof this tube 15 has a male-threaded part 15a formed on its outerperiphery, which is screwed into a female threaded part 14a formed onthe inner periphery of the front end of the abovementioned hollowgripping handle 14, in such a manner that the beaked tube 15 may bejoined with the gripping handle in a freely removable manner. In theirjoined state, both hollow gripping handle 14 and beaked tube 15 are mademutually communicative.

A numeral 17 refers to a thin tube which is inserted to pass through thebore of the gripping handle 14 and the beaked tube 15. The rear end 17bof this thin tube 17 is held in a cylindrical holding die 18 which isfitted in the rear end of the hollow gripping handle 14, while the frontend 17a thereof is situated at a position near the screw-connected partof the nozzle mouthpiece 16 at the front tip end of the beaked tube 15.

The compressed air conduit tube 9 is fitted at its front tip end intothe cylindrical holding die 18 at the rear end of the hollow grippinghandle 14 of the abovementioned ejection nozzle hand-piece 13, and, byscrewing a cap screw 19 into this rear end of the gripping handle, thecompressed air conduit tube is communicatively connected with thegripping handle 14. Further, the front tip end of the water conduit tube12 inserted into the compressed air conduit tube 9 is fittinglyconnected with the rear end of the thin tube 17 which has been disposedin the bore of the gripping handle 14 of the abovementioned hand-piece13 and the beaked tube 15 in such a manner that it may be communicativewith the thin tube 17.

When the power source switch 5 is turned on, the pressurized air issupplied from the compressor 3 to the nozzle mouthpiece 16 by way of theair outlet tube 8, the air conduit tube 9, the bore of the grippinghandle 14 of the hand-piece 13, and the bore of the beaked tube 15,whereby the compressed air is ejected from the nozzle 16a of the nozzlemouthpiece 16 as the jet air. On the other hand, with ejection of thejet air from this nozzle 16a, the pressure of the air in the front end17a of the thin tube 17 situated at the neighboring position where thenozzle mouthpiece 16 is screwed within the beaked tube 15 becomesnegative. By this negative pressure, the water W in the water container10 is sucked up consecutively into the water conduit tube 12 from mouthof the rear end 12a thereof on the same principle as the sprayer or theatomizer, passes through the thin tube 17, flows out of the mouth of thefront end 17a of the thin tube 17, and is ejected as the jet spray waterfrom the nozzle 16a of the nozzle mouthpiece 16 together with the jetair.

By appropriately mnipulating the dial 7 in rotation to control thepumping operation of the compressor 3, it is possible to regulate thepressure and the quantity of jet air to be ejected from the nozzlemouthpiece. Also, by appropriately manipulating the beaked tube 15 inrotation with respect to the gripping handle 14 in the forward-movingdirection or in the rearward-moving direction, the front tip end 17a ofthe thin tube 17 changes its position within the beaked tube 15 tothereby change the negative pressure at the front tip end 17a thereofwith the consequence that the ejecting quantity of the jet spray watercan be adjusted.

As shown in FIG. 3, by the formation of the pressurized air dischargingport 14b in one part of the gripping handle 14, and by providing anopening and closing switch 14c for the discharging port 14b, it becomespossible to eject spray jet water from the nozzle 16 while the dischargeport 14b is being closed, and to stop it from ejection while thedischarge port is being opened.

In the above-described state, wherein the ejecting pressure of the jetair from the nozzle mouthpiece 16 is set in a range of from 1 to 2kg/cm², the ejecting quantity of the jet air is set in a range of from 6to 9 1/min., and the ejecting quantity of the jet spray water is set ina range of from 10 to 30 cc/min., the jet air and the spray jet waterare evenly ejected together from the nozzle mouthpiece 16 to the gumpocket of each individual tooth for about one minute, whereby the sordesand tartars c on the surface of teeth at the gum pocket can beeffectively removed.

As a modification of the device according to the present invention, atooth brush 20 is provided at the tip end of the beaked tube 15, asshown in FIG. 4, in which the ejecting nozzle 16a for both jet air andspray jet water is formed, whereby the jet air and the spray jet watercan be ejected from the nozzle 16a to be impinged onto the teeth, whilethey are being brushed.

It is furthermore feasible that the water container 10 is made in asmall cassette type container which is freely attachable to anddetachable from the gripping handle 14 of the ejection nozzle hand-piece13, or it can be provided in a form, wherein the water container isincorporated in the gripping handle per se.

As has been described in the foregoing, the device for scaling andwashing-out sordes and tartars from the surface of teeth according tothe present invention is capable of effectively removing the sordes andtartars accumulated on the surface of teeth at the gum pocket with asmall quantity of water and without causing any pain and disagreeablefeeling on the part of a user of such device, hence the intended objectcan well be achieved.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for scaling sordes and tartars on thesurface of teeth at the gum pocket, which comprises:a hand-pieceincluding an ejection nozzle; a compressor for feeding compressed air tosaid ejection nozzle at one end of said hand-piece; a conduit pipe fortransporting the compressed air; a water sump; a conduit for leadingwater from said water sump to said ejection nozzle; said compressed airbeing ejected from said ejecting nozzle of the hand-piece under apressure of from 1 to 2 kg/cm² and in an ejecting quantity of from 6 to9 1/min.; and venturi ejecting means for ejecting said water togetherwith said compressed air in an ejecting quantity of from 10 to 30cc/min. in the form of a pressurized air spray jet for exposing thesurface of teeth at the gum pocket by separating the gingival from theteeth.
 2. A scaling device as set forth in claim 1, wherein apressurized air discharging port and a switch for opening and closingsaid discharge port are provided in one part of said hand-piece,ejection of the pressurized air and water from said nozzle beingcontrollable by operation of said switch.
 3. A scaling device accordingto claim 1, wherein a tooth brush is attached at the tip end of thebeaked tube, and pressurized air and water are ejected from an ejectionnozzle formed in one part of said tooth brush.